Keough brought a variety of items, including carnival glass, Avalon and Limoges porcelain - and her silver coffee pot.

"It was my first percolator," she said of the pot. "I am having fun learning about my items."

Everyone had a story to tell about their treasures.

"My late husband Jack's great grandmother brought china from Sweden, my first china pattern. I got the carnival glass set in 1958," said Keough.

Kathy Wolters brought a special doll from her collection to the event.

"This is the last doll my folks got me for Christmas," she said. "I'm guessing she is about 60 years. She has moveable arms and legs, stands about 16 inches tall, and she has a dress of blue velvet, which is not the dress that came on her. My aunt made this dress out of material that my bridesmaids' dresses were made of.

"My memories of it was it was the last doll they gave me when I was 10 or 11 years old. I just always hung onto her, and started my doll collection."

Wolters has been collecting dolls for the last 30 years. She's collected well over 125 dolls.

"We've done other events, and we thought it was a good cause," said Gulfcoast Coin & Jewelry Owner Denise Joyce. She and husband and coowner Michael Joyce were among staff that did the appraisals.

"The Gulf Coast Village Foundation is a not-for-profit organization providing a philanthropic vehicle to encourage financial support of programs that meet the needs of older adults; that is our mission statement," said Cheryl Leftwich, director of fund development. "We provide scholarships to employees, medical equipment to our health care area and a variety of amenities to the rest of our community."

Leftwich said residents frequently had approached staff indicating that they had items they would like to have appraised.

"We've always had a successful relationship with Gulfcoast Coin & Jewelry, so we decided to have an event that was open to the entire Cape Coral and Lee County community. We received over 120 reservations for appraisals."

Gulf Coast Village is a Continuing Care Retirement Community in Cape Coral.